Chapter 47

Talli felt like she was lying in the wind, high above the clouds.

The world was pure white and ethereal, with no one around and no sounds of speech. The only sounds were the wind and the calls of birds.

She felt a deep sense of peace within herself.

How long had it been since she felt this peaceful?

Her body was comfortable and at ease, with no discomfort anywhere. Her mind was clear, like gears tightly meshed, running smoothly according to a set program. Her heart didn’t hurt.

Talli breathed in the fresh air, feeling the impurities within her slowly being expelled.

It felt so good.

She thought that she didn’t even want to leave this place.

It was a good place—no one else was here, there was nothing, and she didn’t need to worry about anything unnecessary or make any effort for anything.

Maybe she could stay here forever.

It was as if a voice deep inside her heart was saying this.

“…Sigh, I really can’t stand it anymore.”

A voice suddenly appeared in her mind.

Talli was startled, sitting up straight. She saw the soft cloudscape tear open, and a small goblin crawled out. It was wearing a large hat and holding a chessboard that seemed to be dozens of times bigger than its own body.

Talli pushed his hat with her finger, feeling that this person looked somewhat familiar.

“Weren’t you supposed to play chess with me? Miss Witch.”

Alex muttered, “…In the end, you’re stuck in a dream, unwilling to wake up, and you’ve subconsciously sealed away all memories of the people in the real world.”

“I… I remember now,” Talli said as she pressed her finger against the brim of his hat, thinking deeply. “You’re the young magician.”

“Exactly.” Alex adjusted his hat.

It was a relief that she remembered something, it seemed like things weren’t too bad after all.

He asked Talli, “Do you know where this place is?”

Talli replied, “It’s my dream.”

Alex climbed onto her hand and sat down: “So, you know! But do you know that your physical condition in the real world has gotten really bad?”

Talli shifted her gaze, looking at the endless white clouds: “…But I feel so comfortable here, and my mind is at peace.”

“This is all fake!” The magician jumped up. “Fake, wrong, self-deceiving!”

He said this, and then, as if thinking of something, yanked off his hat and sat down on her hand, sulking. “I told you already… I told you not to go, not to go…”

Talli seemed a bit distracted, as if she wasn’t listening to him.

“Hey, hey, Talli, I’m saying—”

Alex finally sighed helplessly. He jumped off her hand and, with effort, unfolded the chessboard, moving pieces that were as large as boulders compared to his small frame into their proper places.

“Let’s play another game.”

He was panting heavily, and finally squatted down on the opposite side of the board.

“If you win, I’ll tell you the truth. If you lose, you have to promise me that you’ll wake up from this dream. What do you think?”

Talli slowly asked, “…The truth? What truth?”

“Everything… as it really is.”

Alex said, somewhat self-deprecatingly, “Alright, I admit it. I wanted to tell you from the beginning, but I got scared and thought it wasn’t necessary. At first, I thought you would give up, and back then… I didn’t expect things to develop like this.”

He looked up at Talli. “To be honest—no matter what the final outcome is, I will tell you the truth. But if you lose, you’ll have to meet me in the real world first to hear it.”

Talli’s fingers slowly touched the pieces.

“…I have a feeling that it will be a cruel truth.”

“Yes,” Alex lowered his head.

“But, since you’ve made it here, I can’t refuse to play along.”

Talli said, “I’ll go first this time.”

—

Talli lost, as expected.

“Your body has been damaged, your head was also severely injured when you fell. Lack of blood and nutrition has made your body extremely weak,” Alex said. “Your consciousness in this dream has also been affected. Even though you feel clear-headed, it’s all an illusion. In reality, your thought process and strategy during the game are greatly impacted.”

Talli stayed silent for a moment, staring at the fallen blue piece on the board, the proud monarch. She gently rolled it between her fingertips.

Last time, her witch had eaten the opponent’s monarch.

This time, it was the same, only her piece had fallen to the opponent’s witch.

“I lost,” Talli said slowly.

“You didn’t,” Alex said.

As he spoke, he circled around the chess pieces, big and small, and climbed onto Talli’s soft palm.

“Talli, it’s a best-of-three. After you wake up from the dream, if you win the remaining two games, I’ll tell you everything.”

This time, no matter what happened, he would definitely tell her.

—

The girl on the bed, her face pale, fluttered her eyelashes. She moved her fingers and let out a groan, as if struggling with something.

The little sprite lying beside her bed twisted its neck and shoulders, slowly waking up. It blinked in confusion, then jumped up to help Talli. “Lady sacrifice! Lady sacrifice!!”

Talli struggled to open her eyes.

Everything before her was blurry, her head spinning, and her chest felt uncomfortable, as if she were about to vomit.

She retched a few times.

The little sprite screamed, “Water!! Water!!”

Several other little sprites, who had been guarding outside the door, stumbled in. Seeing that Talli had woken up, they were thrilled and rushed out to fetch water and food, bumping into each other along the way.

Talli felt like she couldn’t say anything. Her throat was hoarse, her head dull, and she had no strength at all.

The little sprite brought water and made her drink a few sips. Talli felt her lips moisten and her throat slowly warm up.

She spoke, “How… long?”

The little sprite cried with joy, wiping its tears. “Two weeks.”

…That’s a week longer than last time. No wonder she felt so stiff all over, as if she had just been dragged out of a coffin.

She sat up straight, touching her abdomen, which still ached faintly.

“Your injuries are almost healed, but the doctor said you refused to wake up for some unknown reason,” the little sprite explained.

Talli said, “You all can go out now. I want to rest alone.”

The little sprites exchanged glances.

Finally, the sprite that had taken her mechanical bird stepped forward and said, “Everyone, let the Lady sacrifice rest for a while, we’ll give her some space.”

The door was closed.

Talli leaned back against the headboard and sighed in relief. She pressed her hand against her forehead, feeling her mind dull, her body heavy, and nowhere near as light and comfortable as when she was in the dream.

But it was real.

This heaviness was real.

She squeezed her palm.

The magician, Alex, climbed out from under her pillow with effort, calling her softly, “Talli, Talli!”

Talli looked down and extended her finger to him.

Alex, holding onto her finger, was lifted up, swaying, and almost lost his hat.

“Thank goodness, you finally woke up. I knew you could do it.”

Talli said, “Thank you.”

The girl’s face was pale, her lips devoid of color, her eyelashes quietly lowered, looking like a fallen snowflake.

“In order to avoid being discovered, I will try to avoid meeting you these next few days. The monarch will be going to the Abyss the day after tomorrow, and at that time, I will come find you,” Alex said. “You don’t need to know in what form I will appear. Just know that when you see me, you will definitely recognize me.”

Talli nodded.

The little sprite-like magician released his hand and fell onto the bed. He took off his hat, waved at Talli, and then ran off, his little legs moving quickly.

At dinner time, a sprite came to help Talli out to eat.

The sprite’s name was Lina, and she combed Talli’s hair.

Lina looked at the girl in the mirror, whose face was as pale as paper. “Lady sacrifice, the monarch has invited you to join Him for a walk tomorrow morning.”

Talli’s hair had grown past her shoulders. She watched in the mirror as Lina combed her hair back, exposing her ears and pointed chin, surprisingly not refusing.

The next day, she woke up early. Her body was recovering quickly, and she needed to go out more. However, since she was still in recovery, she didn’t wear complicated clothes. Lina dressed her in a light purple dress and a wind-blocking shawl.

She looked at herself in the mirror. “Lady sacrifice, you’ve lost weight.”

Talli looked at herself in the mirror, glancing from left to right, and said to Lina, “Lina, give me the bandages.”

Lina asked, “What do you need the bandages for?”

Talli didn’t answer, she simply had the sprite help her wrap bandages around her neck and arms.

When she went outside, the tamed ancient creature underfoot burned with blazing flames, pulling the palanquin suspended in mid-air. The young man stood beside it, gazing at the clouds, quietly waiting for her.

She walked over, and when he heard her, he lowered his head.

There was a brief pause.

The girl’s expression was indifferent and pale, her small frame meekly and distantly lowering her brows. She was wrapped in bandages, covering her neck and arms, as if returning to the time when she was always injured at Fred’s mansion, not caring about anything, indifferent to everything.

Nothing could enter her heart.

For a moment, Deritz felt an inexplicable panic.

He quickly calmed down, getting into the carriage without saying a word.

When Talli got into the carriage, he extended his hand.

The girl glanced at him and, surprisingly, placed her hand in his palm.

He thought she would refuse.

But she didn’t, nor did she retort or angrily blame him.

Unexplainable emotions spread in his heart as Deritz lowered the curtain. The palanquin began to move.

He looked at the girl and chuckled lightly. “I thought that He would hold more weight in your heart.”

The light inside the palanquin was dim, with no light passing through. Occasionally, a few rays would filter in, gently swaying, casting shadows that flickered on her cheek.

Talli lowered her head. “Dusk is already dead. Your Highness, please stop mocking Him.”

The smile at Deritz’s lips slowly faded. “…So, you intend to leave?”

“Leave where? Go where?” Talli blinked and slowly said, “As a discarded sacrifice, I thought I would have to stay in this place for the rest of my life.”

She lifted her face and looked at Deritz.

Staring at the monarch’s face, logically, she should have been terrified, with her blood churning in fear. But at this moment, there was no expression of pain on her face.

Her beautiful violet eyes, in the quiet and enclosed carriage, exuded a silent allure. As she grew, her figure became taller, and her delicate face slowly matured. The process of healing had made her cheeks thinner, losing some of her youthful innocence, revealing the elegance of a young girl and the purity and nobility of an elf.

Deritz paused for a moment.

His Adam’s apple moved as he stared into her eyes, and after a while, he spoke:

“You know, that’s enough.”

It was like that.

Deritz thought, she couldn’t go anywhere.

“I heard you made a mechanical bird for your sprite maid.”

“Yes. Would you like one too?”

“No need.” Deritz said, “I already have one.”

By the time they finished speaking, they had arrived at their destination.

An endless sea of violet flowers.

—Growing in the barren wasteland.

Talli gasped in awe, taking Deritz’s hand and jumping out of the palanquin. She walked a few steps and then began to jog. The sky in the distance was just as heavy and gloomy, yet the sunlight still stubbornly pierced through the clouds, shining down. The sea of violet flowers swayed in the wind of the wasteland, absorbing the sunlight, desperately growing, thriving.

“How… did you do it?”

Talli couldn’t help but ask.

Her skirt blended into the sea of flowers, like a small sail lifted by the wind, about to set sail. Surrounded by the flowers, her body and mind, long confined to a room, felt relaxed.

Deritz followed behind her, watching her back:

“As long as you stay by my side,”

Talli didn’t catch the full sentence. She had already walked several meters ahead. She bent her hand into an arc, placing it by her ear.

“…Everything will be there.”

Deritz grasped her hand. It seemed as though the warmth and surprise she had shown when she saw the sea of flowers and took his hand were still present.

Talli shook her head from afar.

She didn’t catch everything he said, and she no longer cared about it.

Deritz watched her retreating figure. After a while, he couldn’t help but press his palm to his forehead and let out a self-mocking laugh.

Yes, she was absolutely unable to leave him. Even if she longed to return home, she would eventually give up that idea in the face of daily disappointments, ultimately resigning herself to stay by his side.

She was indeed like a bird that loved freedom and the sky, simply thrilled to be out in the open, even for a moment.

But, so what?

Talli… If you are a hawk longing for the blue sky, then I am that cold, serpent-like shadow.

Deritz squinted, his gaze following her silhouette, softly murmuring,

“Even if I die, I will tightly coil around you, binding you to me, never letting you leave my side.”

The next day,

Talli woke up after a nap and heard that something significant had happened outside.

Before heading to the Abyss, the monarch had issued an order. He released all the invaders from the hunting grounds, including the adventurers who had come to the Abyss. They were shackled with handcuffs and ankle chains, lined up in a long queue, being driven toward the north.

From a distance, the procession looked like a long, winding snake, twisting and turning.

Talli grabbed a little sprite who was watching the commotion from the tower. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, oh, Miss Sacrifice, you don’t know yet, do you?”

A sprite told her, “His Highness ordered last night to bring the captured adventurers and invaders to the center of the world. He said they’re going to build a wall.”

Talli was stunned. “A wall?”

“Yes.” The sprite pointed to the northernmost region. “They’re going to build a very tall wall, completely blocking off the vortex in the center of the world.”